Updated: May 21
Kudos to the Honourable Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper on taking heed of the For Hope Mandate lucky action item #7, which called for a revamp travel health visa program.
As opposed to completely eliminating the travel health visa as they campaigned on during the snap election, this new government may capitalize on the travel health visa, which was introduced by the previous administration, and treat it as a mere tax on foreign visitors in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and finance national free testing.
However, we HOPE the new regime will include mandatory testing upon arrival/ at the port of entry as promised by the previous administration on October 1st, 2020. Without mandatory testing upon arrival, the removal of the COVID-19 checks for Bahamians returning home may be very disastrous especially given loopholes surrounding using valid negative tests, false tests as well as fake results and vaccination cards. Relief is needed but implementation must be holistic and strategic. It’s a new day, so let’s continue to turn this ship around for a better and safer Bahamas. 🇧🇸